This is the story of saltpeter the vital but mysterious substance craved by governments from the Tudors to the Victorians as an inestimable treasure. National security depended on control of this organic material
- that had both mystical & mineral properties. Derived from soil enriched with dung & urine it provided the heart or mother of gunpowder without which no musket or cannon could be fired. Its acquisition involved alchemical knowledge exotic technology intrusions into peoples lives & eventual dominance of the worlds oceans. The quest for saltpeter caused widespread vexation in Tudor & Stuart England as crown agents dug in homes & barns & even churches. Governments hungry for it purchased supplies from overseas merchants transferred skills from foreign experts & extended patronage to ingenious schemers while the hated saltpetermen intruded on private ground. Eventually huge saltpeter imports from India relieved this social pressure & by the eighteenth century positioned Britain as a global imperial power; the governments of revolutionary America & ancien regime France on the other hand were forced to find alternative sources of this treasured substance. In the end it was only with the development of chemical explosives in the late Victorian period that dependency on saltpeter finally declined. Saltpeter the Mother of Gunpowder tells this fascinating story for the first time. Lively & entertaining in its own right it is also a tale with far-reaching implications. As David Cressys engaging narrative makes clear the story of saltpeter is vital not only in explaining the inter-connected military scientific & political revolutions of the seventeenth century; it also played a key role in the formation of the centralized British nation state
- & that states subsequent dominance of the waves in the eighteenth & nineteenth centuries.

...

Orla Tinsley is well known as a campaigner for the rights of people with Cystic Fibrosis in Irel&. In her memoir she takes us on a journey into the inner world of a child whose home from home was hospital yet who from an early age refused to allow her illness to define her. It is also a story about coming of age in todays Ireland as Orla takes us through school college & the pursuit of a dream to become a writer. She describes how her love of poetry & drama sustained her through difficult times & how writing in her journal was often a lifeline. She also tells of coming to terms with the loss of young friends through CF & her at times maverick fight to improve an under-par health system that for those with CF delivers a lesser life expectancy in Ireland than anywhere else in Europe. Orlas family instilled in her a mind-over-matter philosophy from an early age: if you cant do something one way keep trying until you find another. Breathe reveals the path of a young woman known for her fighting spirit: deeply personal at times shocking always honest & ultimately hopeful. ...

Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn inspired a revival of artisanal sausage-making & bacon-curing with their surprise hit the excellent" (The Economist) Charcuterie (ISBN 978 0 393 05829 1). Now they delve deep into the Italian side of the craft with Salumi. Ruhlman & Polcyn give recipes for the eight basic products in Italys pork salumi repertoire: guanciale coppa spalla lardo lonza pancetta prosciutto & salami & they even show us how to butcher a pig. This book provides a thorough understanding of salumi with 100 recipes & illustrations of the art of ancient methods made modern & new." ...

The vampiric sorcerer Uctebri has at last got his hands on the Shadow Box & can finally begin his dark ritual
- a ritual that the
...

A priest is conducting the funeral service for a beloved member of his congregation. But when he lifts the chalice to his lips he dies suddenly & horribly
- poisoned by the blood of Christ. Who would want to murder a parish priest in such a way? & who could get access to the closely guarded communion wine? Lieutenant Eve Dallas is called to the scene to investigate. Although initially there seems to have been nothing out of the ordinary about the priests life there is something about the situation that just doesnt add up. & then she starts to uncover the evil lurking behind the ceremonial robes. The dead priest was not who he seemed to be
- he harboured a dark deadly secret that could bring Eves own demons rushing back...

...

When a man is discovered dead by poisoning in his empty home his beautiful wife Ayane immediately falls under suspicion. All clues point to Ayane being the logical suspect but how could she have committed the crime when she was hundreds of miles away? As Tokyo police detective Kusanagi tries to unpick a seemingly unrelated sequence of events he finds himself falling for Ayane. When his judgement becomes dangerously clouded his assistant must call on an old friend for help; it will take a genius to unravel the most spectacular web of deceit they have ever faced...SALVATION OF A SAINT is a magnificently complex & page-turning thriller starring international crime fictions most enigmatic sleuth. This is essential reading for all fans of exceptional crime fiction. ...

When a man is discovered dead by poisoning in his empty home his beautiful wife Ayane immediately falls under suspicion. All clues point to Ayane being the logical suspect but how could she have committed the crime when she was hundreds of miles away? As Tokyo police detective Kusanagi tries to unpick a seemingly unrelated sequence of events he finds himself falling for Ayane. When his judgement becomes dangerously clouded his assistant must call on an old friend for help; it will take a genius to unravel the most spectacular web of deceit they have ever faced...SALVATION OF A SAINT is a magnificently complex & page-turning thriller starring international crime fiction's most enigmatic sleuth. This is essential reading for all fans of exceptional crime fiction. ...

Now that the lethal properties of Elena's blood have been discovered Stefan has been risking it all to destroy the almighty Old Ones. But when Elena is almost killed in a car accident--one that was very clearly not an accident at all--she realizes that the most deadly Old One is determined to take her down. & he just might be powerful enough to do it... ...

Twenty-one years ago with the Allies on their heels the Nazis hid a sealed chest in the dark forbidding waters of the Finstersee a lake surrounded by the brooding peaks of the Austrian Alps. One of the few men who knows of its existence is Richard Bryant a British agent. He sets out alone to discover the secret of the lake & unleashes a series of violent reactions
- & violent deaths...
...

Sam Torrance is one of the most popular & charismatic golfers in the world. He has spent the last three decades at the top of the professional game but it is his exploits in the Ryder Cup that are truly astounding. As a player he is famous for his winning putt for Europe on the 18th green at the Belfry in 1985 which secured Europes first Ryder Cup victory for 28 years. & it was as captain of the team that Sam was to cap his glorious career when on the 29th September 2002 Europe regained the Ryder Cup. Captained by Torrance to devastating affect the European team defeated the Americans by 3 points with Torrance taking a gamble by putting his best players out first. In his autobiography Sam who turns 50 this year & his life-long friend & Daily Mail sportswriter Alan Fraser tell the story of a fascinating life
- the highlights & low points of a remarkable 30 years in golf.
...